First Bite

Mata Hari

The following evening, Santana made her way to Brittany's house later than usual. She had awoken to several texts from Quinn, commanding her to stop by a few houses and glamour people. It was a task Santana hated. She avoided glamouring at all costs. Further fueling her hatred for Quinn was the fact that Quinn was one of the most skilled glamourers in their jurisdiction, so there was no reason for her to make Santana do it other than to remind Santana of her place.

When she arrived to pick Brittany up, she could see Brittany's light on. She called her phone and listened as Brittany answered, tripping around her room as she put on her shoes and changed her earrings. She flew down the stairs, skipping the last one entirely before she bounded out into the night and slid into Santana's car, immediately wrapping her arms around Santana and kissing her silly.

"Hey beautiful," she chirped. "You're late."

Brittany's mere presence warmed Santana. She didn't feel as irritated anymore. "Sorry. Quinn had some bullshit she wanted me to do."

Brittany gave her an exaggerated pout.

"Careful with that thing," Santana said, tapping Brittany's extended lower lip before kissing it. "It's deadly."

"Want me to use it on Quinn?" Brittany offered. "I could get her to leave you alone and clean up her own messes."

Santana smiled at the offer, however impossible. "I don't think Quinn has enough of a heart for that to work on her."

"She must have given all of hers to you, then. You have more heart than most humans."

Santana was quiet for a moment, bewildered how Brittany could think so highly of her cold permanence.

"Where are we going?" Brittany asked, giddy at Santana's mere presence.

Santana smiled and told her she was taking her to a fancy restaurant in town.

"Remember," she said, giving Brittany a playful wink. "No garlic."

Over dinner, Brittany turned to Santana with a sly smile. "I was thinking..." she said, "we should go somewhere."

"Your bed?"

"Always," Brittany smiled. "But I was thinking, like, a vacation. Somewhere beautiful where it's dark most of the time. Are there places like that?"

"Lots. The Northernmost part of Sweden is dark twenty-four hours a day in January."

"Oh, cool! I bet it's cold though."

"Very."

"What's it like there? Do they have lots of good cheese?"

Santana looked up at Brittany with an amused smile. "I've never been."

"Oh... I just assumed, since it's dark all the time, you'd want to go..."

Santana adored Brittany for her cheerfulness. It made everything seem simpler. "Quinn goes every few years. She keeps threatening to take me."

"You should go!' Brittany cheered. "Maybe it would be fun since you wouldn't have to sleep so much."

"Yeah, but there's so much ice and snow, which is a total drag and messes up my hair no matter what I do."

Brittany nodded, looking pensive. "I'd fit right in in Sweden, huh?"

Santana looked at Brittany's corn silk hair and cornflower eyes and nodded. "Definitely."

"We should go."

Santana loved the idea, but was cautious about Brittany's uninformed sense of adventure. "Do you know anything about Sweden besides that it's cold and dark most of the time?"